Critical Review
“Urban Poverty in Jordan: A Case Study of the Cities of the Southern Territory of Jordan”
Lecturer :
Ir. Putu Rudy Satiawan MSc.
Adjie Pamungkas, ST. M.Dev.plg, PhD
Arranged by : Adinda Erfin Kurnia
5015201158
Urban and Regional Planning Department Faculty of Civil, Planning, and Geo Engineering
Institute of Technology Sepuluh Nopember
2022
Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Article Summary
The article entitled “Urban Poverty in Jordan: A Case Study of the Cities of the Southern Territory of Jordan” results from research conducted by Mahmoud Abdallah AL- HABEES and Hamza Khalil AL-KHADAAM (2012). This research is motivated by the phenomenon of urban poverty and the resulting problems originating from the southern region of Jordan, thus encouraging various poverty alleviation efforts that need to be carried out comprehensively.
Urban poverty is an increasingly urgent issue to be addressed because it is related to the dynamics of development, especially in developing countries, including Jordan. The World Bank Report (1994) on the assessment of poverty in Jordan shows a strong relationship between poverty and low levels of wages because 62.2% of the income of the poor comes from wages. In addition, the report shows a positive relationship between poverty, level of family size and birth rate. The report concludes that there is no strong relationship between poverty and unemployment, with 21% of the unemployed working poor. However, it was found that the poverty rate among workers in the private sector is higher than in the public sector, with 23.9% of the poor working in the private sector compared to 10.8% working in the public sector.
UNICEF published a report on the status of children in 1994, which emphasized the relationship between poverty and population growth because these two factors mutually support each other. The report shows that the worst aspects of poverty help motivate population growth, while population growth itself motivates poverty. At the same time, there is an international agreement that family size living in one house is inversely related to consumption levels and per capita income in developing countries and to poor health conditions, decreased quality of life, increased crime, violence and neglect of women due to overcrowding family and management difficulties.
The purpose of the research conducted by Mahmoud and Hamza is to identify the causes that lead to the phenomenon of poverty in Jordanian society by identifying various hypotheses of reasons that have been formulated by researchers in the form of questionnaire items distributed to a sample of individuals in Jordanian society.
In this study, the researcher proposes four hypotheses, including (1) there is a significant relationship between economic causes and the increase in the poverty rate in
Jordan, (2) there is a significant relationship between government policies to deal with the increasing poverty rate in Jordan, (3) there is a significant relationship between poverty and the prevalence of several negative phenomena in society, (4) there is a significant relationship between poverty and the health and education status of a family.
The analytical method used in this research is the descriptive analysis method and statistical analysis using SPSS. Appropriate statistical methods were used to answer the research questions: descriptive statistics, testing the validity and reliability of a research instrument (Chronbach's Alpha), and (One-Sample Statistics) T-test.
Table 1. T-test hypothesis 1
Based on the T-test results on hypothesis 1, there is no statistically significant relationship between economic causes and the increase in the urban poverty rate in Jordan.
The results of the (T) test show that there is a statistically significant difference at the 95%
confidence level between the average responses and the average default scale, where the (T) count is (32,121), which is higher than the proposed (T) value. Thus, the first hypothesis of this study is accepted because economic reasons are the main factor in the emergence of poverty and the increase in poverty rates.
Table 2. T-test hypothesis 2
The T-test results against hypothesis 2 show no statistically significant relationship between government policies to address urban poverty and the increase in urban poverty rates in Jordan. The results of the (T) test showed that there was a statistically significant difference at the 95% confidence level between the average responses and the average default scale, where the (T) count was (24,817) which was higher than the proposed (T) value.
This shows that the phenomenon of urban poverty is one of the most dangerous phenomena in Jordanian society, and government actions contribute to the reduction of urban poverty.
Table 3. T-test hypothesis 3
The T-test results against hypothesis 3 show no statistically significant relationship between urban poverty and an increase in some negative phenomena in Jordan. The results of the (T) test show that there is a statistically significant difference at the 95% confidence level between the average responses and the average default scale, where the (T) count is (27.642), which is higher than the proposed (T) value. Urban poverty has recently become a social phenomenon that has a negative impact on many countries, both rich and poor countries.
Table 4. T-test hypothesis 4
Meanwhile, the T-test results on hypothesis 4 show no statistically significant relationship between urban poverty and the educational situation and family health. The results of the (T) test show that there is a statistically significant difference at the 95%
confidence level between the average responses and the average default scale, where the (T) count is (21.246), which is higher than the proposed (T) value. Thus, this research hypothesis is accepted because all family educational and health situations are generally in poor condition. Poverty negatively impacts the ability of families to educate their children and provide them with appropriate health conditions.
Based on the results of the analysis, it can be concluded that
1. This study shows a statistically significant relationship between economic causes and the rate of increase in urban poverty.
2. The study shows a relationship between government policies to deal with the phenomenon of urban poverty and the increase in poverty rates in Jordan.
3. The study shows a relationship between the phenomenon of urban poverty and the spread of several negative phenomena in society.
4. The study results indicate that there is a relationship between the phenomenon of urban poverty and family health and education status.
CHAPTER 2 Theory Overview 2.1 Economics
Adam Smith argues that the understanding of economics is the study of human behavior to systematically allocate limited resources to achieve specific goals. Meanwhile, Paul A. Samuelson provides an understanding of economics as a science of choice that studies how people choose to use scarce or limited production sources to produce various commodities and distribute them to various members of society for immediate consumption.
2.2 Poverty
Poverty is etymologically derived from the word "poor" which means having no possessions and lacking. Poor also means not being able to keep up with the standard living needs, and the level of income and the economy is low. In short, poverty can be defined as a low standard of living, namely the lack of materials in a number or group of people compared to the standard of living prevailing in the society concerned.
Poverty sometimes also means the absence of access to education and jobs that can overcome the problem of poverty and get the proper respect as citizens (Perpres No. 7 of 2005 concerning the RPJMN). Economically, poverty can be seen from the level of lack of resources that can be used to meet the needs of life and improve the welfare of a group of people (Amelia, 2012).
There are many factors that cause poverty, including:
1. Education Level is Still Low
A low level of education results in a person being less likely to have adequate skills, insight, and knowledge for life. As for the world of work and the business world, education is the capital to compete in getting prosperity later. Therefore, there is a lot of unemployment and the cause of poverty is caused by this low level of education.
2. Still Limited Job Opportunities
With limited employment opportunities, people cannot fulfill their needs because by working, someone gets wages that will later be used to meet these basic needs.
3. The Burden of Family Life
When a person has many family members to support, the burden of his life also increases. That way, a person must increase his income according to how many members he has to support.
---
Lessons Learned
1. The proportion of the existence of poverty differs from one country to another, depending on the economic activities and development factors caused by these countries.
2. Government policies directly affect the increase in poverty rates through programs and strategies taken to address the problem of poverty, the poor financial capacity to stop or reduce poverty, and the lack of adequate resources and staff to deal with poverty problems.
3. The phenomenon of poverty leads to some social problems that are related to groups in which poverty is present in many groups with less education and access to the benefits of development which are in turn very important to get such groups able to obtain the ability to cope with social problems and behavioral effects.
References
